Overall Module Learning Evaluation

From this module, I have learnt that user experience cannot be created. It can only be influenced. User experience plays a big part in marketing a product, and whether a product can survive in the market will depend on how good an experience the product can give the user. Hence research into the factors that affect user experience is very important to create a product.
User experience does not only start when the customer interacts with the product itself. It is the whole process of seeing the product, to ordering and buying, to finally getting in touch with the product itself.

I have also learnt the process of going into research, studying the target audience to find out the underlying problem. It is very important to identify your target audience so as to tailor your product solution to fit them. It is not good to have a wide range of target audience and try to create a product to satisfy everyone, as in the end, no one will be satisfied with the product. If you really want to target all the audiences, create a few products to satisfy each group instead of combining all the products into one.

Thru the project, I have seen the power of low fidelity paper prototpye testing. It can help to find out most of the UI problems without any coding, which is very time saving. The only thing that low fidelity might miss out is the whole colour scheme used to create the product as colour is not added when doing the low fidelity prototype.

This module has been very helpful to educate UI design, which will be very useful for future UI designing. I have also learnt that it may not be a bad idea to break out of the norm when designing a product to give a refreshing idea, although one must be very careful not to thread on changing designs, where people are already very used to the old design and would not use your design even if it is proved to be more efficient and better.

On the whole, as long as the user has a good experience with the product, there is a high chance he or she will go on to promote the product to their friends and family, and the next time your company produce products of the similar series, they will be tempted to buy.

Final Project: Phase IV – UX Evaluation

Task: Improve on high fidelity prototype and do user testing

Finally, we have come to the final phase of our project. While continuing to work on adding and improving features of our high-fidelity prototype, we also tried to brainstorm and finalize what kind of holder would best suit our project. Initially, we wanted a holder that can be mounted to one edge of the square table in the restaurant. The holder should be able to extend so that all users on the table can have a good view of the LCD screen, and it should be able to rotate and fold under the table when not in use so that it will not block the waiters and diners during eating. Following these guidelines, Wingyan managed to get a lamp holder from Ikea, as shown below:

It basically consists of a clamp (to fasten to the table) and supported by two beams with a joint in the middle allowing the adjustment of height and lengthening of the screen which is fastened to the area shown by the lamp above. However more modifications need to be done, as the holder cannot be tilted 360 degrees and the supporting beams look flimsy. Also the holder for the screen needs to be custom built to ensure that it holds it securely so that the screen does not fall off.

We presented our holder to the class and even demonstrated its use by clamping it to the table in the tutorial room. However most of them did not like it due to its bulky and flimsy appearance, which could potentially block other diners sitting across from it. As we can't find a ready made solution, we shall sketch out the holder.

It is a stainless steel holder to be screwed to the underside of the table. The ePan can be slotted into it when not in use. In addition, we decided to make the ePan portable, so that it is now less cumbersome and more flexible to position on the table. Although the ePan is now portable, for security reasons, it will be chained to the holder. In addition, the ePan screen has two flaps at the back that act as stands to prop the ePan at an upright but inclined manner on the table.

A sketch of this holder is shown below:

Figure: Side view of holder with ePan slotted in

Figure: Back view of ePan screen being propped on the table

Over the week, I have tried to improve the interface. I added in the rest of the features (nutritional calculator and gallery) and background music. The buttons on the interface are designed to have a look of light reflection, to make it look 3D and intuitive that there is a button which one can press on. The colour of the buttons are changed to orange as it gives people a feel of vibrance and energy, and orange being the trio palatte colour with blue will compliment the blur background, reducing the "blue overload" effect, and creates a background and foreground differentiation. Initially only words describes the main menu buttons function, but in this improved version, icons are added to the buttons to allow audience who are not well versed in english to be able to intuitively navigate around the interface.

The intro screen is changed to have the fishes appear one by one in an animation sequence so it does not seem to wordy and introduce each of the features sequentially. Small bubbles effect is added to the home page to give the feel of being under the sea, to tie in with the theme of Fish & Co. being a seafood restaurant.

To allow more accurate user testing, I have added one a harder level of spot the differences which uses black and white graphics so as to throw an interesting challenge to large groups of friends who can work together to spot all the difference. We even tried it out in class and our classmates had a good time trying to pick them out. Below are some screenshots of the improved interface:

Figure: Welcome Screen

Figure: "Fish the Difference" Game

For the cartoons page, I took up Mr Reddy's idea to make the side menu hide so that viewers can watch the cartoons in full view.

Figure: Cartoons Screen

Figure: Nutritional Calculator

To gauge users’ reaction towards the ePan, we have conducted a brief reaction checklist questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale for ten users (consisting of teenagers and working adults). We also asked them four open-ended questions about the interface readability, their likes and dislikes about the ePan and further comments for improvement.

Generally, the ePan satisfied their physiological needs as using the stylus pen was comfortable and intuitive. As for the psychological aspects, the ePan was generally easy to use and navigate to the different features, although users were more ambivalent about the ePan being “fun” to use. The sociological aspects did less well though, with a couple of the users not finding the ePan to be a great social-bonding or social image-boosting tool, probably because they might prefer to chat with their friends instead of play the multi-player games as a form of social interaction. However, the ideological aspects of the ePan scored rather well with the users, with most of them agreeing that the ePan projects a hip and cool image and that it blends well with Fish & Co.’s theme, décor and ambience. Most users also found issues with the readability of certain fonts whose colour clashed against the blue background, and did not like the lack of variety of programmes catered towards the older diners. However, they liked the colourful and vibrant feel of the ePan and acknowledged that kids would be thoroughly entertained by it.

As we acknowledged that this version of the ePan is not the final one hence the presence of incomplete features and broken links may have impacted on their experience of the ePan when they tested it. Hence, we set about making changes to the ePan based on the user feedback, though we were sadly unable to add a greater variety of applications to it due to time and resource constraints. Hence, after adding the finishing touches to the ePan which included background music, corrections to the colour scheme and an eraser icon next to the eraser tool in the drawing pad, we let the same ten users test the ePan again, while sending them another questionnaire to help us gauge if we have improved for the better since the last testing.

Our findings on the whole are quite pleasing, that the interface has become much more readable and that the background music enhances the atmosphere of the ePan which contributes positively to the dining experience. However, some users still disliked the “childish-looking” interface which they feel is too elementary. As we are trying to cater to the needs of a broad target group, we have found this interface to be the best fit to project a fun image in line with Fish & Co.’s brand image, hence it is difficult to please everyone.

Given more time, we would have further improved the ePan based on these users’ feedback by conducting more extensive user research to better address the entertainment needs of the different groups of diners, especially older teenagers and working adults. We would have considered adding more applications such as movie trailers, advertisements and video clips that cater more towards this more mature group of diners. We could also take in the consideration given by a classmate where users can actually use the drawing pad to create templates for spot the differences, so that diners can have a stronger sense of belonging towards the restaurant.

In response to complaints that the interface was too “childish-looking”, we might in future even considering providing customizable “skins” consisting of a variety of different colour schemes and themes to choose from that personalize the look and feel of the ePan based on individual diners’ preferences. We might also have added more interactivity to the ePan by using more animations and sound effects which would have made the ePan more visually and aurally appealing.

Final Project: Phase IIIc – Design Stage 3 - High-fidelity prototype

Task: Translate our paper prototype ideas to the actual flash interface.

As I am the most familiar with flash programming, I was in charge of programming the whole interface while the rest of the group members did the buttons design, user testing and other miscellaneous tasks. However, due to time constraint, we did not manage to incorporate all the features by the following week so we did the heuristic evaluation and usability testing with what we have come up with, which is basically just one game (Spot the Difference), one cartoon and the drawing pad.

The main negative comment we have garnered from the usability testing was that the opening screen consisting of several fishes containing information about our features (we have added more fishes to the one from the previous week) are too wordy, and the colour of the words are hard to read. They are also confusing since they are unclickable, as shown below:

In addition, the buttons were commented to look flat and there can be a better line of separation differentiating which is the foreground and which is the background. The dark blue colour of the buttons too contributed to a “blue overload”, since the background was also blue, as commented by Mr Reddy. These are problems that we hope to address when we present our final prototype the following week.

Other than that, there were positive comments such as the ePan being generally user-friendly/intuitive, making good use of stylus technology (for the games & drawing pad) as well as incorporating interesting programmes to suit different tastes. Well it seems that our decision to cater to these different target groups is proving to be the right one.

Final Project: Phase IIIb – Design Stage 2 - Low-fidelity prototype

Task: Concept generation, low fidelity prototype, user-evaluation walk through

Concept generation:

Now, we shall go on to the process of conceptualizing the UI for the ePan. In conceptualizing, we will follow this information architecture:

1. Home
2. Games
   a) Single Player
   - Game 1
   - Game 2
   b) Multi Player
   - Game 3
   - Game 4
3. Cartoons
4. Nutritional Calculator
   a) Appetiser
   b) Main Course
   c) Drinks
   d) Desserts
   e) Kids Menu
5. Drawing pad
6. Gallery

Hence we went about sketching the design of each feature on pieces of A4 sized paper. We opted for a simple and clear layout with the five features of the ePan, as well as the “home” buttons and the sound toggle forming a row at the top of the screen, while any sub-menu buttons would be located on the left taskbar. This layout is chosen as it is very similar to what people encounter when surfing the web, hence will match real world expectations that will make using our system easy and intuitive (part of Jakob Nielsen’s 10 heuristics). The sub-menu for the cartoons is placed on the right instead of the left as we know the top left portion of the screen attracts the most attention. We want to allow audience to be able to focus their attention on the cartoon video instead of having the sub-menu intruding on their view.

First, the system will run into the home page, where a welcome message will be shown:

In creating the games page, I proposed to include a game, spot the difference as one of single player games. This game is proposed as it can be played by a single person, or a group of players can try to spot the difference at the same time and it is addictive. Next, an example of games layout is showed below:

Following is an example of the layout of the cartoons screen:

Next, is the layout of the nutritional calculator screen:

Finally, is the layout of the drawing pad screen:

We used these paper prototypes and did some user testing. From the user testing, we had feedback that the drawing pad only allows clear all function may not be user friendly as some users may only want to clear a small part of the drawing pad. Therefore, we shall include an eraser in the high fidelity prototype.

Final Project: Phase IIIa - Design Stage 1 - Information Organisation

Task: List the target audience, experience strategy, functionality and describe the Information Architecture of ePan

Overall intended audiences are the diners at the restaurant outlets in Singapore:

1. Young children of age 8 and below
2. Older children to working adults
   -Single Diner
   -Group Diner e.g. young couples, teenagers, young adults, families
3. Health conscious
   

Initially, we had doubts whether to go ahead and target such a broad range of users (as echoed by one of our classmates), but as Fish & Co. attracts a broad range of diners, and we wanted to provide a complete experience for every diner, we decided to go ahead with these different features to target these different needs.

Product benefit specification:

1. Physio-Pleasure
   - The entertainment system should be able to help customers identify healthier choice of food, while relaxing in game play
   - The entertainment system will be easy to use and not mind taxing for users trying to relax
2. Socio-Pleasure
   - Our entertainment system should allow interaction between multiple users at the same time, letting customers to enjoy the company of their friends
   - It will be good if the games can actually help bond customers through game play, improving personal relationships
3. Psycho-Pleasure
   - Our product should have a lively and vibrant feel
   - Our product will help relief stress and simulate customers intellectually by providing health facts
   - Our product can store high scores of customers who played the games on the entertainment system
4. Ideo-Pleasure
   - The entertainment system with educational and fun games suitable for families

Initially, for the health-conscious group of diners, we thought of using flash game to educate them about health facts about seafood dishes. However, since we already have other entertaining games in mind, I proposed the idea that we can have a function more useful to the heath-conscious diners – a dynamic nutritional calculator which calculates the nutritional content (such as saturated fats, sugars, cholesterol levels etc.) of Fish & Co.’s dishes according to diners choice. This will help those diners make a more informed, healthier choice when selecting items from the menu. They can also compare the nutritional content of different dishes to see which dish suits their particular health needs better.

Functionality of our product can be summarized as thus:

1. For Children (Age 8 and below)
   – Cartoons
   - Short in Length (about 20mins long)
   - Marine/aquatic theme
   - Entertaining yet educational
   - Audible, but not too disruptive to others (earphones provided)
2. For Health-Conscious
   – Fun Facts + ePan Calculator
   - Displays the benefits of healthy eating and fun facts of Fish & Co.
   - ePan Calculator enables diners to calculate nutritional information on the food, dessert and drinks being offered (eg. energy, cholesterol, total fat) to make a more informed choice
3. For individuals or Groups
   – Entertaining Game
   - Simple instructions
   - Engaging but short playing time of 10-15 minutes
   - Preferably marine/aquatic theme- Competitive styled game eg. Racing or score the most points
   - Option for single and multiplayer mode
   - High score to be recorded into the system

I also proposed an idea – to include a drawing pad which is very useful for every diner (from kids to adults) to exercise their creativity and entertain themselves by writing messages or drawing images which can be subsequently saved into a gallery and viewed by all diners. This idea is proposed so that diners can leave a message to show that they have been here before, giving them a sense of belonging. To filter out any obscenities, the management would have to monitor the gallery daily and remove any potentially vulgar images or messages.

Hence our Information Architecture is:

1. Home
2. Games
   a) Single Player
   - Game 1
   - Game 2
   b) Multi Player
   - Game 3
   - Game 4
3. Cartoons
4. Nutritional Calculator
   a) Appetiser
   b) Main Course
   c) Drinks
   d) Desserts
   e) Kids Menu
5. Drawing pad
6. Gallery

For our information architecture we provided the workflow and processes (in the form of a chart) as well as scenarios as to what steps take place when different groups of customers with different needs enter the restaurant and utilize our ePan.

Our next challenge is to come up with a solution on how to physically place our stylus-sensitive LCD screen (without the CPU) so that multiple users can use it with ease, while at the same time not obstructing waiters and other diners, especially since some of the outlets have limited space. The solution should also help to prevent equipment damage caused by food spills. We generally have one screen per table mounted on the table (hand-held device is not feasible because we want the customers to interact together instead of each playing with their own controller).

With these issues in mind, we came up with a few ideas:

1. Place the screen below a panel of glass under the table (not feasible because customer cannot use the ePan after his food is served)
2. Mount the screen to the corner of the table (could be bulky and blocking the diner sitting next to it)
3. Make the screen foldable/slidable and able to be placed under the table when not in use (technical constraints and hard to visualize, especially given the current holders we can get from shops)

Hence, we have decided to adopt the last solution to physically place the ePan in the restaurant.

Final Project: Phase II - Define - Requirements Specifications

Task: Define target users that we want to cater the ePan to, create personas, product benefit specifications and propose a set of features for ePan.

Target Users:

1. Health-conscious (including young couples who do not have much time to cook
2. Large groups of friends (usually teenagers or young adults)
3. Families with young children

With the target users defined, we set about creating our user profiles and personas for these three groups of people (1 & 2 being advanced users, young children being novice users) and a fourth group – the anti-user (typically older, traditional “uncles” or “aunties” who are less tech sauvy).

Thus our product benefit specifications is defined as:

1. Physio-Pleasure
   - Ability to identify healthier choice of food
   - Easy to use and not mind taxing for users trying to relax
2. Socio-Pleasure
   - Allow interaction between multiple users at the same time
   - Allow bonding between diners
3. Psycho-Pleasure
   - A lively and vibrant feel
   - Stress relief and stimulate customers intellectually by providing health facts
   - Store high scores of customers who played the games on the entertainment system
4. Ideo-Pleasure
   - The entertainment system with educational and fun games suitable for families
   

To address these concerns, we proposed three features for the ePan:

1. cartoons for the kids,
2. stimulating single- and multi-player flash games for the older kid, hungry customer and the groups of friends, and
3. an educational game with heath facts for the health-conscious.

Feedback

One of our classmate feedback that the working executive who is trying to have some peace to relax and dine, may not want to be troubled by the kids making much noise while playing the games. Hence we suggested providing headphones in the ePan system so that kids can occupy themselves and be still while watching the cartoons quietly (especially when they finish their food before their parents).

Final Project: Phase I - Discover - Needs Analysis

Background of Producer: Fish & Co.

• Fish & Co. is a casual dining restaurant with over 10 outlets in Singapore.
• Fish & Co. is known for their fresh seafood served in Mediterranean style - in a pan, with middle range price.
• The restaurants have a nautical-themed ambient and a casual feel.

Need Analysis

Task: To define who our target users are and conduct a needs analysis of our target audience

Target Users: Fish & Co. dining customers

In order to do a needs analysis, we conducted a little ethnographic research by observing Fish & Co.’s customers during the peak dining hour (weekend 7-8pm) and took note of some of the problems they encounter. In addition to the observation, we took our own experiences and those of our friends’ and came up with the following list of common problems faced by Fish & Co.’s diners:

1. Orders taking significantly slower
2. Orders forgotten/mixed up by waiters
3. Time taken for orders to be served extended
4. Children bored and unable to run around the restaurant while waiting to be served

On top of the problems faced, we have also found out about what customers’ needs and expectations are. They include:

1. efficient service,
2. good food and dining experience that is worthy of the price and
3. choice of healthy food due to a health-concious society.

As for the company’s needs, we have come up with the following:

1. To enhance diners’ experience in the restaurant
2. Win over diners so that they will keep coming back
3. Earn more profits

With the needs found, in order to provide a win-win solution to address the needs of both the customers and the company, we came up with a product – the ePan which is essentially an electronic device (we have not yet decided whether it is hand-held or an LCD screen mounted to a table) that incorporates the following features and accomplishes the following goals:

1. Handheld electronic, wireless device / touch screen LCD
   - To accommodate the small dining area
   - Allows for easy play and maximum interactivity
2. Online food ordering system
   - Fast efficient and no frills way to order food at dinners’ own pace
3. Themed games
   - Occupies diners’ attention while waiting for food
   - Diners won’t actually “feel” the waiting time
   - Entertain diners, especially children
4. Fish and fun facts
   - Allow diners to have information on their food and choose more healthily

With the diners having a wonderful and smooth dining experience at Fish & Co., it will leave a good impression on the diners, making Fish & Co. a more outstanding place to dine at. This will help win over the diners' heart and and make them come back for more. Thus Fish & Co. will be able to earn more profits.

Feedback

Generally, our idea is liked by Mr Reddy and our classmates. They think that this device can come in handy to entertain hungry customers to take their mind off from the thought of "argh! why isn't my food being served yet?" The same can be said for kids (accompanied by their parents) who can get restless and run around the restaurants after they finish their food, disturbing other diners in the process.

One of our classmates said that there may not be an actual need to significantly cut the waiting time as it is not a fast food restaurant and waiting is part of the dining experience, but our stand is that we want to make the dining experience even better than it is now to capture the diners' heart and differentiate Fish & Co. from the other restaurants. Therefore we want to cut down on the waiting time.

Another classmate also pointed out that since Fish & Co. is not a fast food restaurant, customers may want to have the feel of being served by waiters instead of having to order their food from a system. Also, Mr Reddy suggested that electronic games for kids might not work out so well as they can be entertained by offline board games or cartoons instead.

Taking these comments into consideration, we have decided to go with our classmates’ suggestion and do away with the ordering component, since it has a totally different functionality from the entertainment system anyway.